Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31820373›Full record

SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2020

Overtraining in Resistance Exercise: An Exploratory Systematic Review and Methodological Appraisal of the Literature.

Clementine Grandou, Lee Wallace, Franco M Impellizzeri, Nicholas G Allen, Aaron J Coutts

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Nutrients · 2026
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  6. Article
  7. Overuse-Induced Muscle Disorder: Establishing a Rat Model to Unravel the Role of Fibro-Adipogenic Progenitor Cells in Intramuscular Fibrosis.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society · 2025
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  13. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Clementine GrandouHuman Performance Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Clementine.Grandou@uts.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3161-0579
Lee WallaceHuman Performance Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Franco M ImpellizzeriHuman Performance Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Nicholas G AllenHuman Performance Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Aaron J CouttsHuman Performance Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
University of Technology Sydney · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe balance between training stress and recovery is important for inducing adaptations to improve athletic performance. However, continuously high training loads with insufficient recovery may cause fatigue to accumulate and result in overtraining. A comprehensive systematic review is required to collate overtraining literature and improve the current understanding of the mechanisms underlying functional overreaching (FOR), non-functional overreaching (NFOR) and the overtraining syndrome (OTS) in resistance training.

objectiveThe objective of this systematic review was to establish markers of overtraining and elucidate the mechanisms underlying maladaptive resistance training conditions. Furthermore, this review aims to critically evaluate the methodological approaches of the overtraining literature.

methodsA systematic literature search was performed on PubMed, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus to identify studies up to June 2019. Electronic databases were searched using terms related to resistance training and overtraining. Records were included if they attempted to induce a state of overreaching or overtraining through resistance exercise in healthy participants.

resultsA total of 22 studies were selected for review. Among these studies, eight resulted in decrements in performance and measured changes in performance during a follow-up period. There were four studies that reported decrease in performance yet failed to implement follow-up measures. A total of 10 studies reported no decline in performance. Overall, a lack of standardisation in methodology (follow-up performance testing) and diagnostic criteria prevents consistent determination of FOR, NFOR and OTS in resistance training.

conclusionsFew studies have appropriately established FOR, NFOR or OTS in resistance training. Overtraining may be related to frequent high-intensity and monotonous resistance training. However, no marker other than a sustained decrease in performance has been established as a reliable indicator of overtraining in resistance exercise. REGISTRATION: This systematic review was registered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/) (https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/5bmsp).

Indexed as

Athletic PerformanceFatigueResistance TrainingAthletesHumans

Identifiers

PMID31820373
OpenAlexW2994579234

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.